Sigal Museum to present Battle of the Bulge survivors

3BULGE

RICH SCHULTZ, THE MORNING CALL

Morris Metz, president of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, holds up a newspaper with the headlines telling the bombing of Pearl Harbor as he and other members VBOB tell the story of the largest battle fought by American forces in WWII during a program at the Easton Library in Easton on Wednesday, December 20, 2007.

Morris Metz, president of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, holds up a newspaper with the headlines telling the bombing of Pearl Harbor as he and other members VBOB tell the story of the largest battle fought by American forces in WWII during a program at the Easton Library in Easton on Wednesday, December 20, 2007. (RICH SCHULTZ, THE MORNING CALL)

Learn about the Battle of the Bulge from Lehigh Valley veterans who fought in it.

Hear first-hand accounts of the Battle of the Bulge on Saturday afternoon at the Sigal Museum in Easton.

To mark the 70th anniversary of the World War II battle, the museum will present a roundtable of three survivors who live in the Lehigh Valley — Army veterans Morris Metz, Harold Kist and Donald Burdick. The program will start at 1 p.m. Memorabilia and contemporary newspapers will be on display. Admission is free; a $5 donation is suggested.

The Battle of the Bulge, also called the Ardennes Offensive, was Adolf Hitler's attempt to break up the American, British and Canadian forces and regain control over the war in Europe. It began Dec. 16, 1944, with a major attack in heavily forested eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg and ultimately involved almost a million soldiers.

Six weeks of battle in bitter cold left 67,000 Americans dead, disabled by injury, captured or missing in action. The Germans had 100,000 casualties.

Metz, 89, of Forks Township, served with the 94th Infantry Division, part of Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army. Kist, 91, of Palmer Township, was in the 99th Infantry Division, which held Elsenborn Ridge on the Belgian-German border. Burdick, 90, of Forks, was in the 16th Field Artillery Observation Battalion and among the troops trapped at Bastogne.

TO BE PUBLISHED with VENDITTA STORY ON A1 OR LOCAL, AND VIDEO.

HARRY FISHER, THE MORNING CALL

Donald Burdick, of Forks Township, reflects on the atrocities he witnessed during the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp, while seated in his Forks Township home on Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

Donald Burdick, of Forks Township, reflects on the atrocities he witnessed during the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp, while seated in his Forks Township home on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (HARRY FISHER, THE MORNING CALL)

All three belong to the Lehigh Valley Chapter, Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, which has 21 survivors of the battle among its 100 members. Formed in May 1998, the group has been meeting monthly ever since. It has an educational role, with members going into schools to teach lessons about sacrifice and courage in World War II. Metz, VBOB's president since 2003, stepped down from the post this year.

Sigal Museum, at 342 Northampton St., is run by the Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society. For more information, call 610-253-1222.

World War II veteran Harold G. Kist, of Palmer Township, talks about his experiences during the Battle of the Bulge during a lunch with his fellow veterans. He and about 10 others from the Lehigh Valley will be going to Belgium and Luxembourg for the 13-day ceremony in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.

World War II veteran Harold G. Kist, of Palmer Township, talks about his experiences during the Battle of the Bulge during a lunch with his fellow veterans. He and about 10 others from the Lehigh Valley will be going to Belgium and Luxembourg for the 13-day ceremony in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. (BETTY E. CAULER, THE MORNING CALL)